Yanling's flower and tree industry rises green, forging China's number one flower and tree county
To the east of the thousand-li Funiu Mountains, on the south side of the ten-thousand-li Mother River. In the center of China's territory lies a lush flower and tree kingdom of fertile fields. With four distinct seasons and a pleasant climate, it is a natural acclimatization base for "moving southern flowers north and northern flowers south."
This is a place destined for flowers and trees. In the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, large comprehensive gardens already appeared; during the Northern Song Dynasty, imperial gardens were established here; in the Ming and Qing dynasties, it earned the reputation of "Flower Capital" and "Flower County." Tao Yuanming, Li Bai, Fan Zhongyan, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Zhu Xi... numerous men of letters came in droves, visiting to discuss Daoism, drink wine and admire flowers, leaving behind famous lines that have endured for ages.
This is a place that continues the legend of flowers and trees. A hundred-li flower corridor, 600,000 mu of plain forest sea, spanning a thousand years of rise and fall, here has once again become a world of flowers, an ocean of grass, a homeland of trees, a paradise of birds. Famous and superior flower and tree varieties have been planted at Zhongnanhai, have entered the Lincoln Memorial in the United States, and flower and tree seeds have soared in space aboard satellites.
This is a place that creates ecological miracles. The county's farmland is no more than 1 million mu, yet the flower and tree planting area exceeds 600,000 mu, ranking first in the country and enjoying the reputation of "China's number one flower and tree county." Located on the Yellow River alluvial plain, where wild plant resources were originally extremely poor, it has nonetheless gathered more than 2,400 varieties of famous and superior flowers and trees from northern and southern China and even from around the world. After more than 2 billion flower and tree plants have been nurtured and grown here, they set out from this land again, sold to 27 provinces across the country, beautifying the cities and countryside of the motherland and improving the ecological environment.
This is Yanling County, Henan Province. From "naming the county by flowers" to "enriching the county with flowers" and then to "establishing the county on ecology," from "scattered planting by individual households" to "concentrated contiguous production" and then to "industrial cluster development," it has made the most of its flower and tree advantages, and in a plain area with "no mountains or waters above ground and no resources below ground" it has carved out a path of relying on an agricultural specialty industry to promote the comprehensive economic and social development of the county.
In the new era, on the basis of deeply cultivating its green development advantages, Yanling's flower and tree industry is accelerating its transformation and upgrading, shifting from extensive expansion to connotative development, "improving ecology with flowers and trees, carrying tourism with ecology, and activating the tertiary industry with tourism," achieving a higher level of sustainable development.
Splendid scenes reappear: the old brand of flowers and trees once again becomes world-famous. Persistently placing the flower and tree industry in a prominent position of priority development, constantly emancipating the mind, adjusting development thinking in good time, effectively stimulating the enthusiasm of enterprises and the people for flower and tree production, and laying a solid foundation for the prosperity of the county economy.
"Once you enter Yanling your eyes are dazzled," "Yanling's wild scenery is as flat as the palm, yet even Jiangnan has no such scene," "Of wintersweet, only Yanling's is famous; gentlemen from all directions, there is no day without buyers seeking it." The verses of the ancients describe Yanling's former prosperity. Now, the splendid scene reappears here: flower and tree planting spreads across 12 townships, more than 1,100 flower and tree enterprises stand row upon row, and 210,000 workers bustle about.
The flower and tree planting area accounts for 1/3 of the province, and flower and tree output value accounts for 1/3 of the county's GDP. The four major series of landscaping seedlings, potted landscape and potted flowers, fresh-cut flowers, and turf and grass blankets are rich in varieties; the production techniques of traditionally superior flowers and trees such as wintersweet and Chinese juniper (Sabina chinensis) are continuously improved; southern ornamental trees such as loquat, camphor, photinia and palm are well nourished; and famous and superior foreign flowers and trees such as Dutch tulips, American trumpet vine, Japanese cherry blossoms and Belgian azaleas vie in beauty, making this China's largest distribution center for flower and tree production and sales and the weather vane for the flower and tree markets of the province and even the whole country. The county's annual flower and tree sales exceed 6 billion yuan.
"It has truly not been easy for Yanling's flowers and trees to develop to today's scale and level," said Ning Bowei, secretary of the Yanling County Party Committee. "This is the result of many successive Yanling County Party Committees and county governments, after trial and exploration, persistently placing the flower and tree industry in a prominent position of priority development, constantly emancipating the mind, adjusting development thinking in good time, effectively stimulating the enthusiasm of enterprises and the people for developing flower and tree production, and taking the path of large-scale, standardized, enterprise-based and intensive operation, laying a solid foundation for the prosperity of the county economy."
"A hundred flowers vie in beauty and spring fills the garden; if you seek spring colors, go to the Yao family." "The number one flower and tree village of the Central Plains," Yaojia Village, has since ancient times been called "Yaojia Garden." It is said to have been originally built by Yao Chong, a famous minister of three reigns in the Tang Dynasty, and is the source of Yanling's flowers and trees. Today every inch of arable land in the village is covered with potted landscapes and potted flowers of peculiar shapes and brilliant blossoms, and with garden flowers and trees of graceful tree form. Not only that, some households also rent land elsewhere, 5,800 mu, for flower and tree production.
"Since the Yao family moved here, they have for generations taken flower cultivation as their occupation. By the mid-Qing Dynasty, 'Yaojia Garden' was already famous throughout the world, and flower growers began to be summoned into the imperial gardens as flower masters. Flowers and trees were sold far away to major cities such as Beijing, Wuhan, Nanjing, Xi'an and Kaifeng. By the late Qing, the footprints of flower workers had spread throughout the country." Speaking of the history of flower development, village committee director Yao Chunmin said proudly. Yet regrettably, "by the Republic of China period all trades were depressed, and flower planting declined accordingly; on the eve of liberation, flowers were already very few."
After the founding of New China, Yanling's flower industry entered a brief period of recovery in the late 1950s and early 1960s. During this period the county government set up the Yanling County Horticultural Middle School in Yaojia Village and established the Yanling County Horticultural Farm, covering nearly a thousand mu. The horticultural farm supplied large quantities of flowers and seedlings to large and medium-sized cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Wuhan, Kaifeng and Zhengzhou, and also supplied and trained a large number of excellent flower workers for these cities.
Flowers and trees have roots, and the flower and tree industry also has roots in Yanling. The inheritance of traditional skills gave Yanling farmers one more way to make money. Beginning in the 1980s, farmers who had not lost their craft began to cultivate flowers and trees in pots and jars in front of and behind their houses, then transport them to nearby towns for sale. Centered on traditional flower-planting villages such as Yaojia, Jinzhuang, Xixu and Banbaigang, a number of key flower-growing households, specialized households and cooperatives emerged.
In the course of historical change, Yanling also explored many directions for development. In the 1960s it once vigorously promoted industrial project construction, and afterward the focus of development gradually shifted to agriculture and light industry. This major grain and cotton county and poor finance county of the 1980s and 1990s, in order to raise land output, tried to develop the apple industry, which at its peak once grew to 120,000 mu. Unfortunately, because the temperature difference between day and night was small, apples accumulated little sugar, resulting in poor quality and low efficiency, and the industry was eventually gradually eliminated.
How can farmers' pockets be filled and the urban and rural economy develop faster? After a deeper understanding and assessment of traditional advantages, locational advantages and technological advantages, and against the background of favorable timing, geographical conditions and human support for developing flowers, from the mid-1990s the Yanling County Party Committee and county government redefined the development line of "enriching the county with flowers" and "naming the county by flowers." From then on, a new era in the development of the flower and tree industry officially began.
Flourishing development: rapidly becoming a pillar industry for enriching the people and strengthening the county
From "flower growers" to "flower workers," "flower merchants" and "flower directors," people whose business is flowers have earned money, built houses, bought cars and changed their way of thinking
At the Yanling County Flower and Tree Trading Market, which covers 680 mu, the reporter saw hundreds of shops with all kinds of flowers and seedlings displayed inside and outside their doors, a dazzling array, while flower merchants from all over the country carefully selected the products they favored. Market general manager Yao Shuxin told the reporter that more than 300 enterprises from across the country have taken root here, with products covering more than 2,000 varieties including trees, flowering shrubs and ground cover, providing buyers with one-stop service: choose seedlings in the morning, load in the middle of the day, dispatch in the evening, convenient and fast. As a mature platform for exchange, display and sales, here they "buy from all over the country and sell to all over the country," with an annual transaction volume of 2 billion yuan, making it a "national key flower market."
Yao Shuxin is also vice president of the Yanling County Flower Association and an inheritor of Chinese wintersweet culture. Looking back, he said with emotion that Yanling's flowers and trees have gone nationwide and also enabled a large group of flower growers to get one step ahead and live prosperous lives. Back then there were several thousand people like Yao Shuxin who went out to grow flowers, sell flowers and export labor and technology. Wherever these Yanling flower growers went, a nursery and a garden would spring up. After Yanling positioned its development focus on the flower and tree industry, they returned home one after another to develop, relying on their hometown's flower and tree resources; some later contracted landscaping projects across the country, and others transformed into flower and tree services such as logistics and transportation, garden management, tools and fertilizers. "Now Yanling has 20,000 brokers contracting projects nationwide. Because the market is mature and resources are abundant, we dare to take on any project, no matter how big."
From "flower growers" to "flower workers," "flower merchants" and "flower directors," people whose business is flowers have earned money, built houses, bought cars and changed their way of thinking. "Thanks to the county's policies, platforms and full support over these years, the average benefit per mu of land has increased by more than three to five times, the per capita income of farmers exceeds 20,000 yuan, the industry is developing rapidly, and the environment is getting better and better," everyone said one after another.
In the more than 10 years after 1985, the Yanling County Party Committee and county government took many measures to encourage flower growers to engage in flower and tree production. They successively formulated and issued documents such as the "Opinions on Establishing the Yanling County Flower Production Base" and the "Five Decisions on Vigorously Developing Flower Production." With the great development of the national economy and the accelerating pace of urban construction, and under the encouragement of the county Party committee and county government and the pull of flower demand in the market, Yanling's flower and seedling production entered a stage of steady development, and the flower planting area increased year by year. By the end of 1995, the county's total flower area had grown to 21,100 mu, with an output value of more than 80 million yuan.
In 1996, marked by the establishment of the Yanling County Flower Office, Yanling's flower production entered a stage of strong guidance and development by the county Party committee and county government.
"As the country's first specialized institution for a specialty industry established by a county government, the Flower Office mainly engages in planning the county's flower production, organizing flower events, technical training and guidance, and the introduction of new varieties and information services," introduced Zhang Wenke, director of the Yanling County Forestry Bureau. "Each township also set up a flower office, and each administrative village designated a village cadre to take charge of flower production, forming a three-level leadership and service system at county, township and village levels. At the same time, the Yanling County Flower Association and the Yanling Industry Federation were also established, effectively organizing personnel engaged in flower production and marketing and building a strong flower production and marketing team composed of technical personnel and business workers."
In 1999, the fourth plenary session of the ninth Yanling County Party Committee of the Communist Party of China adopted the "Resolution on Comprehensively Implementing the Strategy of 'Enriching the County with Flowers and Naming the County by Flowers' and Accelerating the Construction of a Major County of Flower Horticulture," formally cultivating the flower horticulture industry as a major pillar industry of Yanling, opening a new stage of rapid development for Yanling's flower and tree industry.
In order to train more cadres who understand flowers and trees, the county made a far-reaching decision: led by the county Party committee organization department, organize 59 reserve cadres from county-level agriculture-related and urban construction departments as well as various townships to study full-time for one year in the flower horticulture specialization class at China Agricultural University. In September 2000, a second batch of 58 cadres went to China Agricultural University for one year of full-time study, and in the same period another 38 cadres went to Northwest A&F University for two years of full-time study.
Most of these trainees later took up leadership positions at the section level or above, becoming middle-level cadres with vision and professional knowledge, and some even grew into directors or deputy directors of county-level agriculture-related units such as agriculture, forestry and water affairs, or deputy township heads in charge of agricultural flowers in various townships. Like sparks of fire, they not only performed outstandingly in their respective posts, but also guided, influenced and led a large number of people to change their concepts and serve industrial development.
Aiming at the goals of large-scale planting, standardized production, enterprise-based operation and intensive management, a combined package of policies and measures achieved remarkable results. The policy launched in 2003 of subsidizing 300 yuan per mu for 3 consecutive years aroused farmers' enthusiasm for planting flowers and trees. Just two years later, the flower and tree area was increasing at an average rate of 50,000 mu per year. The construction of the Famous and Superior Flower and Tree Production Science and Technology Park launched in 2007 involved 6 townships and 65 administrative villages, with a total area of 120 square kilometers and a cultivated land area of 150,000 mu. Eighteen policies, including land quota use, supporting water, electricity and road infrastructure, science and technology research and development support, and funding support and rewards, attracted more than 200 powerful enterprises to settle in. In 2012, "Yanling Flowers and Trees," represented by the Famous and Superior Flower and Tree Park, was listed as one of the first three pilot modern agricultural industrialization clusters in the province; in 2015, the park was upgraded to a "provincial-level flower and tree industry cluster zone."
Scientific and technological support was further strengthened. Deepening school-locality cooperation, the "Beijing Forestry University Yanling Research Center" was completed and put into use, and Beijing Forestry University's "Teaching and Research Base" and "High-Quality Student Source Base" and Huazhong Agricultural University's "Teaching Practice Base" were successfully inaugurated. Four provincial-level research centers, including the Henan Provincial Garden Plant Engineering Technology Research Center, and 11 municipal-level research centers were established; aerospace breeding work for wintersweet was launched; and tissue culture technology research was carried out for nearly 40 varieties including wintersweet, cherry blossom and Phalaenopsis. Efforts were made to build a collaborative innovation system of "government, industry, academia, research and application," providing strong scientific and technological support for the development of the flower and tree industry.
A number of flower and seedling production standards or technical regulations were researched and formulated. Successively, 12 flower and tree product standards, including the "Wintersweet Product Standard" and the "Potted Landscape Product Standard," and 16 flower and tree production technical regulations, including the "Wintersweet Production Technical Regulations" and the "Chinese Juniper Production Technical Regulations," were formulated, among which 3 standards were determined as provincial-level standards. The flower and tree industry cluster zone was named a "National Seedling Cultivation Standardization Demonstration Zone"; "Yanling Wintersweet" was determined as a "National Geographical Indication Protected Product."
Information network construction was strengthened. The Flower Art E-commerce Center and the Yanling Flower and Tree Trading Information Center were successively built, the Flower and Tree China Network and the Flower and Tree Expert Hotline were opened, and a three-level information network at county, township and village levels, connected from top to bottom, was formed.
It has successfully held 15 consecutive sessions of the "China Central Plains Flower and Tree Trade Expo," with specifications, grade and taste continuously improved, becoming an important platform for flower and tree display, expanding opening-up and enhancing cooperation. The display and trading evolved from mainly traditional seedlings to every link of the flower and tree industry chain, including seedling breeding, fresh-cut flower production, horticultural materials, and deep processing of flowers and trees. The transaction volume of various flower and tree products grew from 180 million yuan at the first session to 4.2 billion yuan at the 15th session.
Upgrading: shifting from extensive expansion to connotative development
"Expand scale and emphasize clustering, adjust structure and raise grade, extend industry and promote integration," implement all measures of supply-side reform in the flower and tree industry, and improve market competitiveness
Having developed to today, Yanling no longer worries too much about the "scale" and "fame" of flower and tree development, but is thinking more about how to further raise the planting grade, industrial level and comprehensive benefits.
"Now we are taking a path of shifting from extensive expansion to connotative development," said Yin Erjun, head of Yanling County. Following the thinking of "expanding scale and emphasizing clustering, adjusting structure and raising grade, extending industry and promoting integration," we implement all measures of supply-side reform in the flower and tree industry, focus on improving the specialization and intensification of flower and tree production, and enhance market competitiveness.
Years of practice have proven that relying mainly on landscaping seedling planting leaves limited room for benefit growth. So how do we move from "big" to "strong"? We must base ourselves on our advantages, choose the right breakthrough point, and plan a "new article."
"This breakthrough point is vigorously developing fresh-cut flowers," Zhang Wenke said. As people's quality of life and consumer awareness improve, the domestic and international fresh-cut flower markets are expanding year by year. In addition to brand effect, a flower-growing and flower-cultivating atmosphere, a national key trading platform, and relatively lower land and labor costs, more importantly, Yanling, located in the Central Plains, has incomparable locational and logistics advantages.
Yanling is located in the core area of Henan's expressway network, adjacent to the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Comprehensive Experimental Zone, and has a convenient and fast transportation system extending in all directions. Compared with Yunnan in the southwest, Zhejiang and Jiangsu in the east, Guangdong in the south, and ** in the west, because the transport radius is much smaller, logistics costs are greatly saved, forming a price advantage.
Walking into the intelligent multi-span greenhouse and comprehensive exhibition hall of Jianye Green Base, one sees pots of delicate, ready-to-drip red anthuriums neatly arranged, stretching out of sight. Because Dutch tidal irrigation technology for fresh flowers has been introduced and nutrient solutions are proportioned by computer, it both saves water and improves fertilizer utilization, and full automatic control ensures the consistency of flower growth.
According to reports, this project, invested in and built by Henan Jianye Group, was launched at the end of 2012, with a total land area of 5,000 mu. In accordance with the goals of "modernized production facilities, large-scale fresh-cut flower production, and internationalized production varieties," it is committed to building an "internationally advanced, domestically first-class" leading fresh-cut flower enterprise. So far it has cumulatively produced 180,000 potted anthuriums, 310,000 cut anthuriums, 50,000 kalanchoes, 80,000 hibiscus, 20,000 potted calla lilies and 120,000 Phalaenopsis. The fresh-cut flower international research and development center it built joins hands with leading industry enterprises from the Netherlands, France, Denmark and other countries to jointly promote the rapid upgrading of Yanling's flower industry.
With full support in policy, funds, credit and technology, in addition to Jianye Green Base, Yanling has also successfully introduced powerful fresh-cut flower enterprises such as Dejin Company, Flower Art Company and Longyuan Company to settle here. At present, the county has developed more than 9,200 mu of fresh-cut flower area, has cumulatively built 304,000 square meters of solar greenhouses and 148,000 square meters of modern greenhouses, with an annual output value of 150 million yuan, basically stabilizing the production of fresh-cut flowers such as roses, anthuriums, Phalaenopsis and cyclamen.
On this basis, relying on flower and tree resources and broadening its vision, and in line with the thinking of jointly developing "woody cut branches, fresh-cut flowers and ornamental cut foliage," Yanling focuses on developing woody fresh-cut branches such as wintersweet, plum blossom, peach blossom, hibiscus, crape myrtle, osmanthus and silver bud willow; potted flowers and cut flowers such as rose, Chinese rose, African daisy, Phalaenopsis, gladiolus, goldenrod and yellow chrysanthemum; and ornamental cut foliage such as Philodendron selloum, turtle back (Monstera), amaranth, lucky bamboo, poinsettia and cyclamen, forming Yanling's unique cut flower brand.
Subsidies are given for the renovation and upgrading of old nurseries in traditional flower and tree production areas, rewards are given for building specialized gardens, characteristic gardens and fine-quality gardens, loan interest discounts are provided for standardized planting and large-scale operation, and bonuses are issued for new variety research and development and experimental planting; Flower Art Company landed on the Hong Kong, China capital market, and Wanlv Company was successfully listed... Under government guidance and support and the strong leadership of leading enterprises, flower and tree enterprises have one after another accelerated the pace of adjusting structure and raising grade.
Now, Yanling has 1,147 flower and tree enterprises of various levels and types, and 74 enterprises with national landscaping qualifications, including 11 with first-class qualifications, more than the number of first-class landscaping qualification enterprises in some entire provinces.
At the Yanling County Flower and Tree Potted Landscape Garden, the reporter seemed to see one small green bank after another. "This crape myrtle shaped like a vase sells for 18,000 yuan, and this Chinese yew for 7,000 yuan..." General manager Liu Chunzhen is a provincial people's congress representative, and she has already worked 26 years in this potted landscape garden founded in 1984. As one of the earliest flower and tree enterprises in Yanling County integrating potted landscape cultivation and landscaping, through continuous upgrading it has developed into a comprehensive enterprise integrating production, planting, planning, design, construction, scientific research, sales and operation, attracting more than 20,000 people from more than 20 provinces and cities across the country to visit and study.
Based on accelerating the clustered development of the flower and tree industry, Yanling is focusing on building and improving the flower and tree industry development chain and its extension chain. In improving the flower and tree industry development chain, it focuses on all links such as scientific and technological research and development, seedling breeding, talent training, flower and tree production, the labor market, market logistics and follow-up services; in improving the extension chain of the flower and tree industry, it focuses on all aspects such as the development of landscaping-qualified enterprises, the cultivation and introduction of flower fertilizer, flower machinery and horticultural materials enterprises, the development of flower and tree deep-processing enterprises, and the construction of tertiary industry projects such as hot spring health and elderly care, driving the overall development of the flower and tree industry.
In the core area of the Famous and Superior Flower and Tree Science and Technology Park, if you see large fields of roses greeting you, you have arrived at the location of Henan Jinyu Rose Biotechnology Co., Ltd. Following the development thinking of "extending industry and promoting integration," here 3,800 mu of famous rose varieties such as French Grasse centifolia rose and Damask rose have been planted; the "Aromatic Plant Extraction and Application Engineering Technology Research Center," with an investment of 20 million yuan, has been successfully put into production; and the Jinyu Rose Manor Hotel, with an investment of 300 million yuan, has been put into use. It can be seen that the integrated development of large-scale rose planting in the primary industry, deep processing of herb essential oils in the secondary industry, and supporting hot spring hotels in the tertiary industry has already taken shape.
Green revolution: transforming from growing and selling flowers and trees to creating and selling ecology
A good ecological environment is the "trump card" for accelerating economic and social development. Focusing on building all-for-one tourism and panoramic Yanling, so that the characteristic development path of "improving ecology with flowers and trees, carrying tourism with ecology, and activating the tertiary industry with tourism" becomes ever broader
Yanling's annual number of days with excellent air quality reaches more than 330, making it a "national-level ecological demonstration zone"; Yanling is also a "hometown of longevity in China," with 8.8 centenarians per 100,000 people, and in longevity circles there is a saying that "in the south there is Bama, in the north there is Yanling."
What is delightful is that when the flower and tree industry was first developed, the main purpose was to promote agricultural structural adjustment, increase farmers' income and raise land output. Unexpectedly, after reaching a considerable scale, it greatly changed Yanling's ecological environment, making it possible for a plain agricultural county to develop ecological tourism.
"A good ecological environment is Yanling's greatest advantage, greatest potential, greatest staying power, greatest brand and greatest wealth." In Ning Bowei's view, this is a "trump card" for accelerating Yanling's economic and social development. "We must use this advantage, strive to develop a green industry centered on tourism, and make the characteristic development path of 'improving ecology with flowers and trees, carrying tourism with ecology, and activating the tertiary industry with tourism' ever broader."
Seizing the opportunities of ecological civilization construction, urbanization construction and building a beautiful China, in the opening year of the "13th Five-Year Plan," Yanling County's decision-makers, when planning a new development strategy, determined to take the creation of a national-level ecological county as an overall strategic measure. A brand-new "green revolution" is surging in Yanling.
Advanced concepts, scientific planning, reasonable layout. Yanling adheres to "ecological priority and green development," promoting the integrated creation and coordinated development of "great culture, great water systems, great tourism and great urban construction." It plans and builds a flower and tree trading core zone, a flower and tree cultural leisure zone, a flower and tree tourism vacation zone, a comprehensive service and small and medium-sized enterprise headquarters zone for flower and tree enterprises, an ecological residential zone, and a leisure shopping and entertainment zone. With tourism and vacation, health and wellness, and flowers and seedlings industries as the mainstay, it aims to build an important comprehensive flower and tree service center and characteristic ecological leisure and wellness base in northern China.
Flowers, grass and trees everywhere, healthy and nourishing hot spring water, and the rippling Heming Lake: since 2015, the whole county, following the thinking of "one flower one world, one water nourishing a thousand years, one lake winning the world," has compiled a "all-for-one tourism, panoramic Yanling" plan, improved various infrastructure facilities, upgraded and built a group of scenic spots, strung the "pearls" into a "necklace," and made Yanling a blessed land for wellness, a paradise for leisure, and a livable flower city.
Spring's "Spring of the Flower Capital" series tours, summer's cherry and flat peach picking tours, autumn's Golden Autumn Flower Capital leisure tours, winter's wintersweet culture tours, the plain ecological park, the riverside ecological corridor, the ten-thousand-mu flower and tree sightseeing area... an open 5A-level ecological tourism area with plain characteristics is accelerating into being.
"Flowers and trees make tourism, and tourism feeds back flowers and trees. The two merge with each other and serve as platforms for each other," said Liu Dongying, director of the Yanling County Tourism Bureau. Last year, Yanling received 3.76 million visitors in total and achieved comprehensive tourism revenue of 1.37 billion yuan. Ecological sightseeing tourism has become another pillar industry of Yanling after the flower and tree industry.
Besides tourism, the convention and exhibition industry, leisure commerce, and health and elderly care industry are also flourishing. In the new era, Yanling is transforming from growing and selling flowers and trees to creating and selling ecology, focusing on building a green city of "flowers and trees + ecology."
In order to provide a solid ecological guarantee for the county's ecological civilization construction and county economic development, the Yanling County Party Committee and county government decided to establish the Yanling County Forestry Ecological Protection Area, and based on the current spatial distribution of various flowers, trees and forests, divided the protection area into three levels: the first-level protection area is the main flower and tree production townships such as Bailiang and Chenhuadian, and is the core area of the forestry ecological protection area, where the ecological red line must be strictly observed, the scale of flower and tree production stabilized, and it must be ensured that the green area can only increase and not decrease, and ecological advantages can only be strengthened and not weakened. The second-level protection area is townships such as Malan and Zhangqiao, and is the buffer zone of the forestry ecological protection area, where the construction area of flowers, trees and ecological forest belts must be maintained at a certain scale, building an ecological barrier for the first-level protection area. The third-level protection area is other townships and regions outside the first and second levels, where ecological restoration and ecological governance must be actively carried out, and afforestation and village and town greening vigorously promoted, laying a good foundation for building panoramic Yanling and developing all-for-one tourism.
Enterprises are encouraged and supported to establish high-grade flower and tree production bases in the first-level forestry protection area, or, following the principle of matching trees to sites, to vigorously plant public welfare forests, ecological protection forests and timber forests, ensuring that forest coverage can only increase and not decrease. For newly planting flowers, trees and forests on non-forest agricultural land on both sides of existing main roads or on agricultural land in other areas, eliminating gaps and building them according to the requirements of corridor tourism landscapes, ecological construction subsidies are issued in three installments at the standard of 1,000 yuan per mu.
At the same time, qualified enterprises are encouraged to actively create ecological tourism scenic spots. For enterprises approved as national 3A-level scenic spots, reward-in-lieu-of-subsidy funds of 300,000 yuan are issued; for enterprises approved as national 4A-level scenic spots, reward-in-lieu-of-subsidy funds of 500,000 yuan are issued; and for enterprises approved as national 5A-level scenic spots, reward-in-lieu-of-subsidy funds of 1 million yuan are issued.
During the interview, the reporter felt that Yanling people firmly believe that protecting the ecological environment is protecting productive forces, and improving the ecological environment is developing productive forces. It is believed that this "green revolution" will surely be carried through to the end, and this path of green rise will certainly become ever broader!